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For 35 years, we've calculated the prices of the twelve gifts from the classic carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas." The result is the PNC Christmas Price Index®, a unique and whimsical holiday tradition that makes learning about the economy fun.

FESTIVE FACT!

A group of partridges can be called a “bevy,” “brace,” “covey,” “jugging” or “warren.”

Source: Archery360.com

FESTIVE FACT!

In ancient Greek mythology, the turtle dove was sacred to Demeter, the goddess of harvest and agriculture, as well as Aphrodite.

Source: Theoi.com

FESTIVE FACT!

The French Hen can also be called the “Faverolles,” as the breed was developed in the 1860s near the villages of Houdan and Faverolles in France.

Source: Wikipedia

FESTIVE FACT!

The four calling birds we sing about today were, in earlier times, called four “colly” birds, which is an ancient term for blackbirds.

Source: Mentalfloss.com

FESTIVE FACT!

Five golden rings may actually refer to five ring-necked pheasants, which seems logical, as it is more consistent with the rest of the bird gifts in the song.

Source: 10000birds.com

FESTIVE FACT!

Geese are generally monogamous birds, living together in permanent pairs throughout the year. And we thought the turtle doves were lovebirds!

Source: Ducks.org

FESTIVE FACT!

Swans also generally are monogamous, however their “divorce rate” is estimated around 6%. Swans may switch mates if nesting fails, and some that lose their mate do not resume mating again.

Source: beautyofbirds.com

FESTIVE FACT!

Since many milkmaids would have been exposed to cowpox, they were partially immune to smallpox, so their skin was unharmed and smooth. This is where the phrase “smooth as a milkmaid’s skin” came from.

Source: LSNED.com

FESTIVE FACT!

National Dance Day was established in 2010 and is celebrated each year on July 30. National Dance Day was created by Nigel Lythgoe, the creator of “So You Think You Can Dance” (FOX) and co-president of the Dizzy Feet Foundation. This grassroots campaign encourages Americans to embrace dance as a fun and positive way to maintain good health and fight obesity.

Source: DizzyFeetFoundation.org

FESTIVE FACT!

Leigh Grant, a children’s book author, claims the gifts in the song “The 12 Days of Christmas” are popular parts of a medieval feast. The leaping lords would have been entertaining the guests alongside the drummers and pipers, while the birds were eaten.

Source: ethicsdaily.com

FESTIVE FACT!

Illustrations from Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales show that several of the pilgrims were pipers.

Source: Encyclopedia.com

FESTIVE FACT!

Drums almost all sound unique. The factors that impact the sound of any particular drum are the material of the drum head, the tension of the drum head against the shell and the type of shell.

Source: Wikipedia.com

TOTAL CHRISTMAS PRICE INDEX (CPI)

$39,094.93

(+1.2%)

True Love will need to have more money on-hand to fill stockings this holiday shopping season due to high-flying Geese prices and a tight labor market for Lords-a-Leaping, Pipers Piping and Drummers Drumming

ABOUT THE INDEX

The PNC Christmas Price Index® shows the current cost for one set of each of the gifts given in the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas."

It is similar to the U.S. Consumer Price Index, which measures the changing prices of goods and services like housing, food, clothing, transportation and more that reflect the spending habits of the average American.

The goods and services in the PNC Christmas Price Index® are far more whimsical, of course. And most years, the price changes closely mirror those in the U.S. Consumer Price Index. It’s a fun way to measure consumer spending and trends in the economy. So, even if Pipers Piping or Geese-a-Laying didn’t make your gift list this year, you can still learn a lot by checking out why their prices have increased or decreased over the years.

The PNC Christmas Price Index Through the Years

SELECT A GIFT

ALL GIFTS

History of the Index

It all started 35 years ago as a way to engage clients of PNC’s predecessor, Provident National Bank in Philadelphia, during the traditionally light holiday weeks. What hatched as the creative brainchild of the bank’s then-chief economist has since grown into one of PNC’s most popular and anticipated economic reports.

TRENDS: HOW THE INDEX HAS CHANGED SINCE 1984
Over the years, trends have emerged, and the PNC Christmas Price Index® (PNC CPI) has often increased or decreased at a rate consistent with the U.S. Consumer Price Index, a measure of inflation produced by the U.S. Department of Labor. Three factors have largely driven changes in the index over the past 35 years[1]:

The Internet makes it easier to find the gifts from the song online, but these goods and services tend to be expensive, mainly due to added shipping and handling costs.

The price of services overall has increased, while the price of goods has slowed.

Fuel costs have a major effect on the cost of shipping. And, as we know, fuel prices have been especially volatile over the last few years.

Meet the Team

REBEKAH MCCAHAN

Vice President and Investment Strategist

PNC Asset Management Group

Rebekah McCahan serves as a member of the Investment Strategy team for the PNC Asset Management Group and Institutional Investments. She is responsible for developing asset allocation models, directing asset allocation changes, analyzing new investment instruments for consideration in client accounts, and helping to create quarterly and monthly investment outlooks and reviews.

AMANDA AGATI

Managing Director and Co-Chief Investment Strategist

PNC Asset Management Group

Amanda Agati is Managing Director and Co-Chief Investment Strategist for the PNC Financial Services Group. In this role, she oversees all investment strategy-related activities for the Institutional Asset Management, Wealth Management, and Hawthorn (ultra-high-net-worth) businesses, totaling approximately $150 billion in assets under management, as of December 31, 2017. In addition, she helps lead the team that establishes overall strategic and tactical asset allocation guidance of client portfolios, manages the evolution of investment processes, provides thought leadership on key investment issues, and is the author of numerous publications.

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the difference between the Total Cost of Christmas and the True Cost of Christmas? Who figures out the prices for the PNC Christmas Price Index? The answers to all these questions and more can be found here.

What is the Christmas Price Index®, anyway?
The PNC Christmas Price Index (PNC CPI) shows the current cost for one set of each of the gifts given in the song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas."

What is the "True Cost of Christmas?"
The True Cost of Christmas is the cumulative cost of all the gifts when you count each repetition in the song, reflecting the cost of 364 gifts. This cost has measured even wider fluctuations over the years.

Why did PNC start tabulating the Christmas Price Index®?
It all started 35 years ago as a way to engage clients of PNC’s predecessor, Provident National Bank in Philadelphia, during the traditionally light holiday weeks. What hatched as the creative brainchild of the bank’s then-chief economist has since grown into one of PNC’s most popular and anticipated economic reports.

Who is the holiday shopper at PNC?Since 1986, Rebekah McCahan of PNC Asset Management Group has handled our shopping duties, putting a price tag on French hens, maids-a-milking, gold rings and all the other items in the PNC CPI. She has evaluated some distinctive economic trends along the way.

Where does McCahan do her shopping?The partridge and dove prices came from a national bird supplier. Hatcheries provided the cost of the hens and swans. The price of the geese came from a waterfowl farm. A national pet chain provided the price of the calling birds, or canaries. The pear tree price came from Cinnaminson Nurseries in New Jersey. A national jewelry chain provided the cost of five 14-carat gold rings, and PHILADANCO, a modern dance company in Philadelphia, offered the price of ladies dancing. Maids-a-milking are the only unskilled laborers in the PNC CPI and, as such, they reflect the federal minimum wage.Year after year, the sources for the prices remain the same for the most part for consistency, but they have changed on occasion due to changes in the market or business landscape.

What has changed since 1984?Many things. First, the Internet. Today, it’s easier for us to find the goods and services listed in the song online. This convenience comes at a price, however: goods and services from the survey that are purchased online tend to be more expensive than those purchased in a more traditional transaction, mainly due to added shipping and handling costs of the specialty items. In 2015, we adjusted the current prices of the turtle doves and swans to better reflect open market pricing, and revised the historical data to correlate. Second, over the last 35 years, the price of services in general has increased, while the price of goods has slowed. In the 1984 PNC CPI, goods were by far the more expensive component of the Index — today it’s services. Since 1984, the PNC CPI has increased 95%. Also related to services, in 2007, federal laws increased the minimum wage and gave the maids-a-milking their first raise since 1997. The wage increased again in both 2008 and 2009, and is now holding steady at $7.25 per hour. Third, fuel costs. As fuel prices go up and down, they have a major effect on the cost of shipping. Finally, we adjusted the prices for 10 Lords-a-Leaping in 2018 and revised the historical data to correlate.

Will shoppers spend more than ever before…again?Looks like it, but that’s because inflation usually makes the PNC CPI a little more expensive each year. The underlying inflation in this year’s core PNC CPI (where the volatile cost of swans is excluded) is up 2.1%. PNC calculated the 2018 price tag for The PNC Christmas Price Index at $39,094.93, approximately $450 or 1.2 percent more than last year’s cost.

In which year could a shopper afford to be a scrooge?The cheapest PNC Christmas Price Index® in dollars occurred in 1995, when the cost of Christmas was just under $15,600[1].

FOR EDUCATORS

The PNC Christmas Price Index® is a simple, yet entertaining way to introduce basic economics to classrooms around the country. By pricing out each gift from “The Twelve Days of Christmas” year after year, we are able to provide a snapshot of our current economy, lessons on inflation and other economic trends.

Activities

These self-contained activities from The Stock Market Game™ give you everything you need to use the PNC Christmas Price Index® as an effective teaching tool. The Stock Market Game™ is a program of the SIFMA Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit educational organization dedicated to fostering knowledge and understanding of the financial markets for individuals of all backgrounds.

Important Legal Disclosures & Information

In 2015, we adjusted the current prices of the turtle doves and swans to better reflect open market pricing, and revised the historical data to correlate. In 2018, we adjusted the prices for 10 Lords-a-Leaping and revised the historical data to correlate.

The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. ("PNC") provides investment and wealth management, fiduciary services, FDIC-insured banking products and services and lending and borrowing of funds through its subsidiary, PNC Bank, National Association, which is a Member FDIC, and provides certain fiduciary and agency services through PNC Delaware Trust Company. PNC does not provide legal, tax or accounting advice.

PNC Asset Management Group is the combined marketing name for the asset management and banking activities conducted by PNC Bank, National Association (“PNC Bank”) under the marketing names PNC Wealth Management®, Hawthorn, PNC Family Wealth®, PNC Institutional Asset Management®, PNC Retirement Solutions®, Vested Interest®, and PNC Institutional Advisory Solutions®, by PNC Delaware Trust Company or PNC Ohio Trust Company, and by PNC Capital Advisors, LLC and PNC Realty Investors, Inc., registered investment advisers. PNC Asset Management Group includes personal wealth management for high net worth and ultra high net worth and institutional asset management clients. Personal wealth management products and services include customized investment management, financial planning, private banking, and tailored credit solutions as well as trust management and administration for affluent individuals and families. PNC Institutional Asset Management provides investment management, custody, and retirement planning services. The clients served include corporations, unions, and charitable endowments and foundations, located primarily in our geographic footprint. PNC Asset Management Group does not provide legal, tax, or accounting advice unless, with respect to tax advice, PNC Bank has entered into a written tax services agreement. PNC Asset Management Group does not provide services in any jurisdiction in which it is not authorized to conduct business. PNC Bank is not registered as a municipal advisor under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Act”). Investment management and related products and services provided to a “municipal entity” or “obligated person” regarding “proceeds of municipal securities” (as such terms are defined in the Act) will be provided by PNC Capital Advisors, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of PNC Bank and SEC registered investment adviser.